That's why Ms. Nowak, a partner with the Global Employer Services Group of Deloitte & Touche LLP, spends so much time helping women with their careers.

Ms. Nowak, 41, helps companies design employee benefits plans while overseeing a staff of 22 people in seven states from Deloitte's downtown Cleveland office. Despite those responsibilities, which often keep her busy well past five o'clock, she also sits on the board of Dress for Success and leads the Women's Initiative for Deloitte's Cleveland office.

Dress for Success is a nonprofit that helps underprivileged women polish their interview skills and find appropriate clothes for job interviews, while the women's initiative is Deloitte's mentorship program that works to retain promising female employees.

It isn't easy holding on to them, Ms. Nowak said. The strain of the work environment often is too much for women with families.

“The hours and everything are so intense that we tend to lose them,” she said.

They can make it work, however. Ms. Nowak sure has.

She always liked numbers, so after attending Valley Forge High School in Parma Heights she majored in accounting at the University of Akron. While there, she narrowed her interest to the tax side of the subject, which she said gave her a chance to be more creative.

“It allowed me to think outside the box,” she said.

She worked at two Beachwood firms before joining Deloitte & Touche in 1992. Deloitte gave her a chance to work in its tax practice soon thereafter if she agreed to do employee benefits work.

Ms. Nowak said she “fell into” working with benefits but ended up liking it.

“I feel like I'm helping people in what I do,” she said.

Ms. Nowak, who was the first female tax partner with Cleveland's Deloitte office, noted that her schedule often involves after-hours networking events and traveling. Her husband, Ken, also has a busy schedule as tax director at Parma-based manufacturer GrafTech International Ltd., and they have two boys, Kyle, 8, and Jarrett, 5.

“Every day is a juggling act,” she said.

To cope, she works out daily and does most of her cooking on the weekend, which is restricted to family time.

She also likes to have some fun at her office, where she works with four other women.

“It would not be unusual to grab the girls who work with me, take them out and get a pedicure,” she said.

Chris Chizmar, tax partner in charge of Deloitte's Cleveland office, praised Ms. Nowak for her passion, energy, commitment and creativity. He noted that she was the first person he turned to when he wanted someone to help him create a coaching culture within the branch.

“She's just a great person to have on a team in any capacity,” Mr. Chizmar said.